Blake Vines | Reporter
No. 8 Baylor equestrian will begin its season with an intrasquad scrimmage Friday, kickstarting a new season that includes bouts with eight other top-10 teams.
The scrimmage, which will begin at 10 a.m. Friday at the Willis Family Equestrian Center, will showcase returning athletes and 10 incoming freshmen.
“Every year we showcase all the freshmen, plus an abundant amount of our returners in the scrimmage,” head coach Casie Maxwell said. “It’s definitely a great opportunity for the freshmen to go out in this new format, as something they’ve never done before, and get a feel for that.”
Last season, Maxwell took the Bears to the top-three finish in the Big 12 and a No. 9 ranking nationally. The Bears are ranked eighth in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association’s (NCEA) preseason coaches poll.
“Our girls are still getting back into shape, and our horses are still getting back into shape for the season,” Maxwell said. “Being clean, productive and having a good foundation to build off of in the next couple of weeks is really what we are striving for.”
The team will open the season Oct. 3 against the reigning national champion (and No. 1-ranked) Georgia Bulldogs. The next day, the Bears will take on No. 3 Auburn.
“We’ll definitely have to build quickly off the scrimmage,” Maxwell said. “We have a week and a half to turn around and get ourselves ready for two road meets in the SEC, which is just an incredibly tough way to start.”
While it is a tough start to Baylor’s season, they have plenty of leadership from returning riders to help shape some of the new talent.
“In practice the other day, talking to one of them [new teammates] about how to handle nerves or different things like that has been great,” senior jumping seat Lauren Jorgensen said. “It’s nice having years of experience to compare what we used to do to what we do now and the things we’ve learned.”
Last season, Jorgensen won against three top-five teams, won three Most Outstanding Performances and was named to the All-Big 12 fences team.
“I’m excited to keep building off the momentum we’ve had over these past years, and we’ve been through a lot as a team,” Jorgensen said. “Having a smaller roster, I think we can be super tight-knit, interconnected and just a lot closer as a team.”
Baylor’s season-opening intrasquad scrimmage will begin at 10 a.m. Friday at the Willis Family Equestrian Center.
